Sunday, December 27, 2015

Three years ago, at this time, with Christmas celebrations over, Boxing Day a memory,

and winter settled upon us here in the southeast, I was busy packing up to leave on

the trip of a lifetime to ANTARCTICA to celebrate the 50 year friendship with my

dear friend Paula. She had visited twice previously and this time invited me as her

very grateful guest. Fortunately her bravery rubbed off on me and I had no

qualms despite the distance, remoteness, and sailing on a small expedition

ship - I was raring to go 'to the ends of the earth' also!

Antarctica, and the entire Southern Ocean, is the most amazing place on this

planet. Go HERE and HEREto look back at some of the places we visited in 2013.

Fiona came for Christmas - and is staying!

I was surprised when a large box was delivered and left on the front porch early

evening a few days before Christmas. Nothing was ordered. Nothing was

expected. Something exciting was up though!

You may recall my recent postabout a fabulous shop we discovered when at

the coast in late November.

BAROUKE Exotic Woods Etc.

Perhaps you remember me falling in love with Fiona, a sweet carved wooden penguin - go read the story for the details. Seeing Fiona on display, I recalled my time among literally a million or more penguins on the Antarctic expedition - and one particular young penguin on South Georgia Island (Paula and I named her Georgia) who followed us about, chewed on our rubber wellies, and became our little friend for several hours whilst ashore.

I kicked myself for not buying Fiona while at Barouke - click on my sidebar -that

day in Wilmington, and shared that fact in my subsequent post where I wrote

about the great shop, its fabulous offerings, and its lovely owner Jannett.

I realized later that Fiona could almost be Georgia, without her fluffy

juvenile coat, all grown up, and that I should have brought her home.

Imagine my surprise and joy when on opening the unexpected box,

wrapped so beautifully and tucked into a bed of white foam (snow?) was

Fiona, along with a lovely Christmas card from Jannett and her husband.

What kind, thoughtful, very generous people - I was overwhelmed!

So, you must admit this is a lovely story - but this is only part of it.

Deeper down in the large box were other new winged friends - yes Fiona traveled

with companions! There will be another story as soon as they calm down, dry off, and

allow me to photograph them.

They have been testing the waters in our garden (we had a lot of rain after they arrived)

Claude Monet's beautiful paintings available on umbrellas - Giverny, France September 2015 This being the last shopping weekend before Christmas, I hopeyou have lovely weather to venture out with no need of an umbrella. We have lovely sunshine today but it has turned coolerwhich is fine with me.Have a wonderful weekend.

. . . . . . and don't feel bad if, like most people unfamiliar with the correct

pronunciation of many Irish names, you have trouble with this one,

Saoirse is pronounced "SEER-sha" - just so you know, and you will want to be

talking about this special actress a lot in the future.This is a just released new movie - you may not find it in your area yet, and I doubt on Netflix for some time. Be sure to put iton your list though.

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR is a fresh version of my former three year blog ACROSS THE POND which can still be accessed by clicking on the title above.I'm a transplanted Brit enjoying life in North Carolina.

Fifty five years of journeying back and forth across the wide Atlantic Ocean have kept me busy…….and made my life very interesting! Although I've now visited all seven continents, I continue to travel and look forward to sharing new places around the world.I love taking photos! All images are my own unless noted otherwise. Please do not use my photos without a request. I enjoy sharing and will usually say OK!

Malaysia 2012

Singapore 2012

Hawaii 2012

Hoi An 2011

Vietnam 2011

Chiang Mai 2011

Bangkok 2011

TASMANIA 2011

Australia Nov. 2011

Expedition Cruising 2011

M/V Orion

Sub-Antarctic 2011

King Penguins

My African Safari...May 2010

The Lion

Africa 2010

The Leopard

Africa 2010

Remembering Africa - 2010

Lassen National Park, California

Thanks so much for reading along this far……if you've enjoyed my tales and photos and would like to see more, click on the Older Posts button, or the photo thumbnails above to take you back…there are awesome countries and exciting adventures. If you love to decorate your personal space, dig and delve in your garden, and turn out tasty morsels from your kitchen..........you're at the right place!